A Letter To The Discovery Channel: On The Firing Of Tori, Kari, and Grant From Mythbusters

(NOTE: Based on time elapsed since the posting of this entry, the BS-o-meter calculates this is 7.236% likely to be something that Ferrett now regrets.)

Dear Discovery Channel:
Mythbusters is my favorite surrogate TV family, my comfort watching, my friends. And with your firing of Tori, Grant, and Kari – a.k.a. “The Build Team” – from the show, you have just plopped an ugly divorce in my living room.
I am not happy.
But since this move smacks of a budget cut, allow me to demonstrate my fiduciary credentials: every Christmas, my wife buys me the latest season of Mythbusters, often from the Discovery Channel store. That’s stopping this year, unless the build team is brought back. I’ve also bought Mythbusters DVDs for friends to spread the word. That’s also stopping. As are my purchases of the Mythbusters T-shirts and Behind The Myth tours and the museum exhibit.
I won’t tell you I won’t watch the show; I probably will. But you folks have probably gotten $1,000 in merch sales from me over the years, and that? Is gone. My blogging about Mythbusters? Is also gone. After this, I’m not providing any more PR for a show that has made a grievous error.
In particular, the firing of Kari Byron is inexcusable, as there aren’t enough prominent women out there doing science, and the removal of one from perhaps one of the sanest ambassador shows for science sends a very uncomfortable message to girls. But even aside from that, part of the joy of the show was watching Tori injure himself, watching Grant build a robot, watching the collective joy they exhibited when something went haywire.
The show is an ensemble cast now, whether you like it or not. And to remove that means that I will remove my wallet from your merch funds until that is rectified. So I sincerely hope you do an about-face on this ASAP, because I’m one of your megafans. I’ve been loyal, and more than that, profitable to you.
I hope that soon, I will be again.
Yours,
Ferrett Steinmetz
(If you’d like to write the Discovery Channel, incidentally, I’d suggest you use their form here.)